Ağdam (also, Agdam and Aghdam) is a ghost town in the southwest part of Azerbaijan and the capital of its Agdam Rayon. In July 1993, after heavy fighting, Agdam was captured by the forces of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic during its 1993 summer offensives. As the town fell, its entire population were forced to flee eastwards. In the immediate aftermath of the fighting, the Armenian forces decided to destroy much of Agdam to prevent its recapture by Azerbaijan.[1] More damage occurred in the following decades when the deserted town was looted for building materials. Agdam is currently ruinous and uninhabited and empty.[2] The town's large Aghdam Mosque survives intact but in a derelict condition.

The city's name is of Azerbaijani origin and means White House, in which ağ means "white" and dam is house or "attic", thus referring to a bright sun-lit, white house which was given by Panah Ali Khan of Karabakh Khanate.[3]

Another possibility is that it was derived from ancient Turkic glossary meaning "small fortress". In the distant past, Turkic speaking tribes built small fortresses for their protection and safety.[3]

Mosque in Agdam on Azerbaijani stamp (depicted as it looked before the Karabakh war)

Agdam was founded in the 18th century and granted city status in 1828.[4] It is 26 kilometers from Stepanakert. Before the Nagorno-Karabakh War, butter, wine (Industrial Association for processing of grapes - Agdam Brandy Company), machine factories and a railway station functioned there.[5][6]

Agdam was the scene of fierce fighting during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. According to journalist Robert Parsons, Agdam was used by Azerbaijan as a base for attacks on Karabakh, launching GRAD missiles and bombing raids from there against civilians.[7] During the Battle of Aghdam, violations of the rules of war such as hostage-taking, indiscriminate fire and the forcible displacement of civilians were committed by Armenian forces.[8] As the city fell, almost its entire population fled eastward.[9]

The ruined city once had a population of almost 40,000 people,[12] but today it is an almost entirely uninhabited ghost town.[13] All the houses are ruinous, some by shells fired in the war, others looted for building materials.[14][15]

One of the few buildings to remain intact is Aghdam Mosque. Its derelict condition drew criticism from Azerbaijani and Turkish communities, who complained to Pope Benedict XVI about the mosque's current situation.[16]

Average temperatures in Azerbaijan's Gazakh, Ganja, Goranboy, Terter, Agdam, Fizuli and Jabrayil regions will also be close to climatic norm, at about 7-12 degrees at night and 13-18 degrees during the day. Balakan, Zagatala, Gakh, Sheki, Oguz, Gabala, ...

... the protocols had been marketed as not containing any prerequisite, Turkey couldn't resist mentioning the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and sending Armenia the message that, at a minimum, they should withdraw troops from the district of Agdam.

... designed to solve the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh. But almost immediately after the last summit, Armenia began large-scale military exercises in Agdam, on the occupied territories, despite the agreement reached, to reduce the tension on the contact ...

1992: A ceasefire is shattered when the city of Agdam comes under heavy shelling that kills 25 people in the battle over the disputed mostly ethnic Armenian territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. 1993: A series of bombs explode in Bombay, India ...